Mimi’s Birthday and Father’s Day Weekend

We have had soo much fun!  On Friday night we went out to BC Golf Ranch in Helotes to hear a friend play music and hangout with friends.  Reese stayed at Chris’ for a few hours, so Jeff and I got to relax.  I can see the light, in two years life IS going to be easier.
Austin asked whose foot that was, it was another little girl we didn’t know, but made friends with Lauren and Ella.  I love how little kids have no inhibitions and join right in:)
 
We didn’t do much during the day, Ella colored, with her favorite color- RED!
Saturday night we celebrated Mimi’s birthday.  It was a little late, and took us three restaurant tries, but after a delicious meal at El Mirasol, we headed home to eat one of the ugliest, but still yummy cakes.  (Yes, I made it and forgot you only take off the top of one layer, not both.)  Hence, my earlier post about not cooking.
And yes, Ella did stick her finger in the cake:)
 
Sunday was a fantastic Father’s Day celebration.  Before heading to Grandma Chris’ we played, Ella has decided if she can’t have the car to herself she will at least play with Reese and give her a ride.

Then it was food and pool time!  Reese took a fantastic nap, so I felt like I even got to relax a little.  After nap she played in the pool too.  We all came home exhausted and happy.
Happy Father’s Day to the first man in my life, love you Dad!

Austin was in heaven with Uncle Jacob around.  He has become quite the fish and LOVED being thrown in by Jacob and Jeff.  A HUGE change from a few years ago when he didn’t even want to get in.
     Quite similar to my mother’s day picture, Jeff looks exhausted, but happy.  


In the words of Ella, "I love you Daddy, I love you Daddy....I love you Daddy...I love you Daddy!"
and Reese, "Daaddaaa (as he eyes light up and her toothy grin grows into a big smile)", and Austin, whose love and appreciation is now showing in a different bond through a shared love of sports, fixing things, and awe at his invincible dad killing big, bad bugs.
Happy Father's Day, we love you!

Happy Father's Day, Love Reese

I made dinner, Austin made a hat, the hat won

I only document this, so that my kids can never say their mom doesn’t cook.  It just doesn’t happen that often.  You know why—it is a lot of work and it only tasted “ehhhh”.  After wards Jeff tells me he doesn't’ really like beans.  Oh well, back to PB&J’s.

Austin did make this hat for me though, so it was all worth it.

You gotta laugh

Last weekend was a mixture of great fun and great frustration.  Sometimes it gets so frustrating, that the only thing to do is laugh, and laugh hard. 

We had a work, family outing at Landa park on Saturday, which was fun, but not quite sure the kids were too into it.  The most fun they had was with the dirt and drinking big sister’s drink.

  We left all three with Uncle Jacob on Saturday night and Jeff and I headed out for some adult interaction.  We were going for your classic dinner and a movie with friends.  We all decided the wine would be more fun than the movie, so we ended up at a wine bar after Dough instead.  (Yumm!) 

Needless to say, Jeff and I were feeling pretty lazy on Sunday.  The kids were going bonkers, so we decided to just get out of the house for lunch and hit Souper Salad.  It was a disaster, no nice way to put it.  Kids screaming, drinks spilling, food not being enjoyed.  Oh well, you gotta LAUGH.  After Reese spilled her drink all over herself, and I then spilled mine all over Ella, we ran away.  And drove to Grandma’s with one kid shirtless and the other pant-less.  Hey, between the two of them at least they were one whole outfit.

Oh well, nothing swimming and a trike ride at Grandma’s couldn’t cure. 

Dinner Time

Nope, not real food, but just as good to these girls.

Oh. and by the way, Reese has discovered her new passion is climbing into chairs.  Any chair, but her favorite are actually the ones at our real dining table.  Something Austin and Ella never really did.  Guess she figures she needs to keep us on our toes:)

Austin’s First sleepover

They declare each other BFFs – Austin and Drew Sharpstene, even after going to kindergarten at different schools.  The reward for Austin’s great behavior at the end of school was his very first sleepover with Drew.

They did what little boys do best, ate junk food, drank sprite, and played video games.  A good time was had by all:)

I Love You Ice Cream!

That is what Ella proclaimed as I took this picture.. 

I am not a fan of the heat, but I am loving the summer.  Now that all three kids are at Concordia for the summer, we can all sleep a little later, there are no practices to get too, and yes, if we don’t eat dinner at 5:30 on the dot…the world does not fall apart.

Reese has put her stake on the car, but Ella managed to shove herself in for a moment.

Reese so badly wanted to help Jeff water the trees.  I love how she is clutching his shirt as only little ones do.

Off to play on the slide and Ella made her own splash time by running through the hose.

I tried to get a shot of Austin, but he was too fast.  His only interest is in playing football with Jeff.   I will keep trying to catch him while snapping away at the girls who are a little more agreeable.

Reese is 15 months

Another milestone, 15 months! 
Reese got one shot, but did really well.  The doctor was a little concerned that her weight put her in the 15th%, but said just keep feeding her.  Believe me, this girl can put it away so I am not worried.  We got rid of the bottle about mid-May and now unlike Ella and Austin, she doesn’t drink milk even in a cup before going to bed, just a little Owen and Mzee.  For a few weeks she went down seamlessly, but didn’t want any snuggling.  Now, she cries a little, but does let me snuggle and rock her.  I will take a little crying for some extra love snuggles.

Reesie – You are too cute!  You are so good at signing to tell us what you want, specifically milk, more, eat, and please.  You learned how to say No on Sunday night, 6/5.  Not in an angry way, it just came out.  You said Ella clearly for the first time on 6/13.  You call every animal a Dog, and keep repeating it until we assure, yes, that is a dog (or not).  You love to try and do whatever Ella and Austin do.  Ella was having a meltdown the other night and stomping her feet, you imitated and made her look a little ridiculous, we loved it! 

You laugh like you mean it and are so amused by yourself and us!

Weight: 20 lbs 7 ozs (15%)

Length: 31 inches (67%)

Head: 47 cm (79%) – yes, it is still hard to get most shirts over her head:)

 

And because I love to look back at my other two cuties.  Ella at 15 months 20.56 lbs (about same weight as Reese) and 31.5 inches tall (Same as big brother)

Austin at 15 months – 24.75lbs and 31.5inches tall.

After dinner

This is often what our early evenings look like.  Enjoying a push up after dinner (yes, that is what is all over Reese’s face), playing a little basketball, and even though school is out, we make sure Austin still gets his reading in.

  

Austin finishes Kindergarten

I am still trying to wrap my brain around it and understand why it feels so weird and so natural at the same time.
I was so nervous for him when he started last year, but he did great.  Made friends, learned a lot, and never really seemed bothered by any of it. 
One friend said “did I miss anything, did I get it all? Kinder is over, gone!” 
Another friend said “I realize I often don’t give my kids enough credit for what they really can handle.”  I had an Oprah, aaahaaa moment when she said this.  They still have an innocence that we have lost and don’t have the same fears that we do.  He loved kinder, but he wasn’t upset it was over, just ready to enjoy the summer and hang out with his friends at Summer Blast!
1st day – 8-23-10 and last day 6-2-11
    

Letter he wrote to us and his self portrait.

He wrote this the first day of Summer Blast.  It was another aaahaa moment.  I thought, wow, he can write and fill out things like a BIG boy!  I also love that he wrote he was 7 even though he knows he is 6, just wanted to be older and counts Kinko as part of the family.

We are proud of you bud!! Hope your summer is filled with lots of baseball, Xbox, and fixing things:)